5/26/2009

What's wrong with this picture?

Two species of snails have invaded my water lily plant, which I'm growing in a container. Also, I've noticed crows "fishing" for tasty tidbits in the container. What started as a purely ornamental piece has ended up as an established food chain. Isn't nature interesting?

Although snails are known as pests that munch away at vegetable gardens, in a water garden they can actually be useful as they eat mostly algae and dead plant material. So far I've seen my snails mostly on decaying leaves, and no holes are apparent when they gather under living leaves, so I don't think the snails are hurting anything. But I'll keep a close eye on them. The clear jelly-like eggs under the leaves indicate that my population of snails will probably continue to grow.